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Deforestation: it is “urgent” to clear up the “ambiguity” on soy, according to feed manufacturers

by AI | 13.Sep 2024 | Europe in brief AI

The supply of guaranteed deforestation-free soybeans for French farmers is at risk of being affected by the Commission’s delay in specifying import criteria, warned a French union representing livestock feed manufacturers.

Greenpeace activists unfurl a banner reading "Deforestation, highly flammable soy" as they protest against the government's inaction on imported products linked to deforestation, on May 31, 2021, at the port of Saint-Nazaire, the largest soy import port in France. (Photo: Loïc Venance / AFP)

Paris – The French animal feed industry association (Snia) called on Thursday for urgent clarification of the European « complex and unclear » conditions set for the importation of soybean guaranteed not to come from deforestation, reporting a possible « additional cost of 2.2 billion euros at the European level ».

This European Regulation (RDUE) aims to ban, from 2025, the importation of coffee, cocoa, rubber, palm oil, beef, wood, and soybeans that have contributed to deforestation.

But its application procedures are still unclear, particularly on how to certify non-deforestation soy imports, and the European Commission still has to publish « implementation details »: « three months before the regulation is implemented, it is totally irresponsible », protested Ludovic Michel, vice-president of Snia, during a press conference in Paris.

« We are facing a real risk of supply chain disruption, with disastrous costs, » he lamented. (September 12, 2024)